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Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture

Snakes of the genera Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis (Viperidae: Viperinae) are known as the desert vipers due to their association with the arid environments of the Middle East. These species have received limited research attention and little is known about their venom or ecology. In this study, a...

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Autores principales: op den Brouw, Bianca, Coimbra, Francisco C. P., Bourke, Lachlan A., Huynh, Tam Minh, Vlecken, Danielle H. W., Ghezellou, Parviz, Visser, Jeroen C., Dobson, James S., Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A., Ikonomopoulou, Maria P., Casewell, Nicholas R., Ali, Syed A., Fathinia, Behzad, Hodgson, Wayne C., Fry, Bryan G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7913145/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33540884
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins13020112
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author op den Brouw, Bianca
Coimbra, Francisco C. P.
Bourke, Lachlan A.
Huynh, Tam Minh
Vlecken, Danielle H. W.
Ghezellou, Parviz
Visser, Jeroen C.
Dobson, James S.
Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A.
Ikonomopoulou, Maria P.
Casewell, Nicholas R.
Ali, Syed A.
Fathinia, Behzad
Hodgson, Wayne C.
Fry, Bryan G.
author_facet op den Brouw, Bianca
Coimbra, Francisco C. P.
Bourke, Lachlan A.
Huynh, Tam Minh
Vlecken, Danielle H. W.
Ghezellou, Parviz
Visser, Jeroen C.
Dobson, James S.
Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A.
Ikonomopoulou, Maria P.
Casewell, Nicholas R.
Ali, Syed A.
Fathinia, Behzad
Hodgson, Wayne C.
Fry, Bryan G.
author_sort op den Brouw, Bianca
collection PubMed
description Snakes of the genera Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis (Viperidae: Viperinae) are known as the desert vipers due to their association with the arid environments of the Middle East. These species have received limited research attention and little is known about their venom or ecology. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of desert viper venoms was conducted by visualising the venom proteomes via gel electrophoresis and assessing the crude venoms for their cytotoxic, haemotoxic, and neurotoxic properties. Plasmas sourced from human, toad, and chicken were used as models to assess possible prey-linked venom activity. The venoms demonstrated substantial divergence in composition and bioactivity across all experiments. Pseudocerastes urarachnoides venom activated human coagulation factors X and prothrombin and demonstrated potent procoagulant activity in human, toad, and chicken plasmas, in stark contrast to the potent neurotoxic venom of P. fieldi. The venom of E. macmahonii also induced coagulation, though this did not appear to be via the activation of factor X or prothrombin. The coagulant properties of P. fieldi and P. persicus venoms varied among plasmas, demonstrating strong anticoagulant activity in the amphibian and human plasmas but no significant effect in that of bird. This is conjectured to reflect prey-specific toxin activity, though further ecological studies are required to confirm any dietary associations. This study reinforces the notion that phylogenetic relatedness of snakes cannot readily predict venom protein composition or function. The significant venom variation between these species raises serious concerns regarding antivenom paraspecificity. Future assessment of antivenom is crucial.
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spelling pubmed-79131452021-02-28 Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture op den Brouw, Bianca Coimbra, Francisco C. P. Bourke, Lachlan A. Huynh, Tam Minh Vlecken, Danielle H. W. Ghezellou, Parviz Visser, Jeroen C. Dobson, James S. Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A. Ikonomopoulou, Maria P. Casewell, Nicholas R. Ali, Syed A. Fathinia, Behzad Hodgson, Wayne C. Fry, Bryan G. Toxins (Basel) Article Snakes of the genera Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis (Viperidae: Viperinae) are known as the desert vipers due to their association with the arid environments of the Middle East. These species have received limited research attention and little is known about their venom or ecology. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of desert viper venoms was conducted by visualising the venom proteomes via gel electrophoresis and assessing the crude venoms for their cytotoxic, haemotoxic, and neurotoxic properties. Plasmas sourced from human, toad, and chicken were used as models to assess possible prey-linked venom activity. The venoms demonstrated substantial divergence in composition and bioactivity across all experiments. Pseudocerastes urarachnoides venom activated human coagulation factors X and prothrombin and demonstrated potent procoagulant activity in human, toad, and chicken plasmas, in stark contrast to the potent neurotoxic venom of P. fieldi. The venom of E. macmahonii also induced coagulation, though this did not appear to be via the activation of factor X or prothrombin. The coagulant properties of P. fieldi and P. persicus venoms varied among plasmas, demonstrating strong anticoagulant activity in the amphibian and human plasmas but no significant effect in that of bird. This is conjectured to reflect prey-specific toxin activity, though further ecological studies are required to confirm any dietary associations. This study reinforces the notion that phylogenetic relatedness of snakes cannot readily predict venom protein composition or function. The significant venom variation between these species raises serious concerns regarding antivenom paraspecificity. Future assessment of antivenom is crucial. MDPI 2021-02-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7913145/ /pubmed/33540884 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins13020112 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
op den Brouw, Bianca
Coimbra, Francisco C. P.
Bourke, Lachlan A.
Huynh, Tam Minh
Vlecken, Danielle H. W.
Ghezellou, Parviz
Visser, Jeroen C.
Dobson, James S.
Fernandez-Rojo, Manuel A.
Ikonomopoulou, Maria P.
Casewell, Nicholas R.
Ali, Syed A.
Fathinia, Behzad
Hodgson, Wayne C.
Fry, Bryan G.
Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title_full Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title_fullStr Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title_full_unstemmed Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title_short Extensive Variation in the Activities of Pseudocerastes and Eristicophis Viper Venoms Suggests Divergent Envenoming Strategies Are Used for Prey Capture
title_sort extensive variation in the activities of pseudocerastes and eristicophis viper venoms suggests divergent envenoming strategies are used for prey capture
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7913145/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33540884
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins13020112
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